Ceratitis capitata

C. capitata can be monitored by traps baited with male lures. As in other tested species belonging to the subgenus Ceratitis, males are attracted to trimedlure and terpinyl acetate, but not methyl eugenol. Ceralure is a new potent and persistent attractant for C. capitata (Avery et al., 1994). The responses to baits of 16 Ceratitis species were tabulated by Hancock (1987). Trimedlure (t-butyl-4(or 5)-chloro-2-methyl cyclohexane carboxylate) is the most widely used lure for C. capitata. The history of trimedlure development and the problems of isolating the best of the eight possible isomers were discussed by Cunningham (1989a). The lure is usually placed on a cottonwool wick suspended in the middle of a plastic trap that has small openings at both ends. Suitable traps were described by White and Elson-Harris (1994). Lure can either be mixed with an insecticide or a piece of paper dipped in dichlorvos can be placed in the trap. Traps are usually placed in fruit trees at a height of about 2 m above ground and should be emptied regularly as it is possible to catch hundreds of flies in a single trap left for just a few days, although the lure may remain effective for a few weeks. A detailed study of trap position effects was carried out by Israely et al. (1997). A review of the biological aspects of male lures was presented by Cunningham (1989a) and the use of lures was described more fully by Drew (1982). A trapping system used to monitor for possible introductions of C. capitata into New Zealand has been described by Somerfield (1989). The possibility of the development of pheromone-based trapping systems was discussed by Landolt and Heath (1996). Trapping efficiency may also be enhanced by the use of fluorescent colours, particularly light green (Epsky et al., 1996).